Birthday Dinner of Combos and Water

Had a pretty good birthday weekend, but boy, did it go out with a bang!  Rick came up to me about 5:00 and said, "Ok, I'm going to tell you something, but you aren't going to worry, say to me, you're not going to worry."

I'm wondering at this point, did I forget about a bill that needed to be paid?

"Ok, I won't worry..."

He had been having chest pains and cold sweats since the night before.  DON'T WORRY?!  I keep calm, have our doctor paged, who said he didn't think it was an emergency but we can go to the ER just to be safe.  

At the ER, they took care of him promptly, had an EKG done in triage, blood and urine tests done immediately in the room.  They brought the xray machine to him within 15 minutes for a chest xray.  He had an episode during the xray, but still able to keep calm, after all, we're AT the hospital.

The doctor was very nice.  She was very thorough and friendly.  She was concerned, because of Rick's recent broken foot, that it could possibly be a blood clot that had travelled to his heart, so she ordered a CT scan.  

Now the past two years have been a whirlwind of complicated pregnancies, three premature babies.  Now I'm on the other side of the hospital bed.  Granted, Rick had me and a baby to worry about each time, but I'm starting to understand what he must have went through.  Thoughts of my mom's heart attack at 50, called a widow-maker, and losing her two years later to pancreatic cancer, losing Rick's mom in April at 58 to a heart attack.  I didn't hear until last night that his paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother had both died young of heart attacks.  Yes, I was starting to panic.

Our Erin was so selflessly there for us to watch the babies AGAIN, but this time for Rick.  But what if he had to have surgery to remove a blood clot right now?  What would I do with myself?  How would I be able to visit while he's recovering with three babies at home?  What if he didn't recover?  I did not like being in this position.  I love him.  I don't want to lose him after only two years of marriage.  I don't want my babies to lose their daddy, whom they adore.  I want them to grow up knowing him, not just hearing about him.  

Finally, after three hours at the ER, all of his tests came back normal.  He will be getting a stress test on Friday with our doctor.  This changes our priorities.  We will be active in the new church we found, we will be on the electric cigarette.  Our diet will be the hardest, but we will be eating healthier.  If my 37th birthday wasn't reminder enough that we are getting older, the ER trip confirmed it.  We've been talking a lot lately about retirement and the babies' college funds since watching the vice-presidential debate.  Now I don't care what we have to do to make it there.  We are going to change the way we live in the present, in order to make it in the future.